mathematical puzzle

p
THE DOT‐‐TOWN SUICIDES
THE DOT
12 November 2009
PME EDL
Tzu‐Shin Hsieh
Each resident of Dot-
Town carries a red or blue
dot on his (or her)
forehead, but if he ever
fi
figures outt what
h t color
l it is,
i
he kills himself.
Each evening the residents gather;
one day a stranger comes and tells
them something—anything—
nontrivial about the number of
blue dots.
PROVE THAT EVENTUALLY EVERY RESIDENT KILLS 
HIMSELF.
Comment: Here by “a nontrivial statement” we mean a 
f
statement that for some other numbers of blue dots 
would not have been true. 

SOLUTION

Assumption
• n residents in Dot‐Town
• b of which carry a blue dot
• stranger  provide a nonempty set X of values
stranger provide a nonempty set X of values
X ⊂ {{0, 1, 2, . . . , n},
} b ∉ X
if b‐1 ∈ X

if b+1 ∈ X
If no one kills himself the first night,  neither b − 1 
nor b + 1 is in X.
 the set X
h X of not‐possible values of b
f bl l f b is increased.
d
Note that the proof shows that n nights suffice.
The full n nights are needed only when 
X = {0} and all dots are the same color
X = {n} and n ≤ 2.
X = {0                     } and all dots are the same color
= {0 , 1, 2, 3, 4
1 2 3 4 } and all dots are the same color

X = {n} and n = 2

X = {n} and n =1
SUMMARY

• The Importance of “Nontrivial Statement”
• Deduction of knowledge from knowledge.
THANK YOU